October 9th, 2018– VIA Outlets - the industry-leading owner and developer of outlet shopping destinations in Europe – continues to transform its outlet centres from being purely transactional places to become more experience-driven ones.

VIA Outlets looks to establish its 11 shopping centres across Europe as the centres of their respective communities, where their guests want to spend time, shop, stroll, enjoy a day out with friends, and discover new brands. They are set to become go-to destinations for domestic as well as overseas guests and an important part of this positioning is to offer a great selection of brands while enhancing the guest experience with the best local food, art, architecture and history.

An interesting illustration of this approach is a recent initiative in VIA Outlets’ Freeport Lisboa Fashion Outlet, where an artwork by Patrick Shearn, Europe’s largest suspended kinetic sculpture, was recently installed. On September 18, the installation, called “School of Breeze” and inspired by Portugal's connection to the sea, was displayed for the first time in the Iberian Peninusula.The artwork is 171 meters in length, suspended between 3.5 meters and 15 meters above the ground.

Patrick Shearn, world-renowned for striking, larger-than-life, moving sculptures called Skynets, developed the site-specific work for the Freeport Lisboa Fashion Outlet, where the artwork provides an unprecedented experience of originality and contemporary art innovation for visitors. Nuno Oliveira, Business Director Portugal for VIA Outlets commented: "After the presentation of the new centre at the end of last year, it is a privilege to receive this work of art that will cement the positioning of the centre as an exclusive shopping, leisure and cultural destination."

“School of Breeze” is composed of approximately 3,100 meters of rope and approximately 50,000 holographic Mylar streamers, which refract a stunning full spectrum of colour. Harnessing available wind, the artwork transforms into a unique ballet of kaleidoscopic reflections, offering a unique sensory experience to those who visit the centre.

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